The One With Joey Making Chandler Swear
by GleefullyLovely
Summary: “He can still catch her!” Exclaimed Joey as he tugged the lid clear off the box “Come on, get out of there!” Only his friend didn’t move “Guys, he won’t come out, why won’t you come out?” I own nothing.


Joey, arms crossed and head drawn down, frowning, watched as Kathy, his ex-girlfriend dumped his ex-best friend.

He felt for Chandler, but at the same time his so called best bud had crossed a major line in their friendship when he kissed his girlfriend.

"Goodbye, Chandler." The redhaired woman made no eye contact with any of the apartments occupants as she exited.

Joey would never know what exactly it was that provoked his mad dash to free Chandler from his box prison. Was it the way Ross looked at him? The way Monica, Rachel and Pheobe now held themselves stiffly?

No, deep down he knew what had turned the scales, it was hearing Chandler get dumped and him not saying a single word to stop it. Chandler had chosen to honor his friendship with Joey over keeping Kathy.

Instead, the man pointed a single finger through the breathing hole and waved sadly and as much as he could, goodbye.

"Open the box!" Joey rushes to his friends side as the apartment door echoes shut.

"What?" Questions a perplexed but relieved Rachel

"He can still catch her!" Exclaimed Joey as he tugged the lid clear off "Come on, get out of there, get out of there!"

Only his friend didn't move, Chandler remained lying down on the hard wooden floor, just staring up with tear filled blues.

"Come on, get outta there!" Yelled Joey, hands reaching down and attempting to tug the brunette forward with little success "Guys, he won't come out, why won't you come out?!"

Chandlers mouth opens to answer, but is quickly snapped shut within seconds, the man opting to mime the words.

"I can't read lips! Come on, Chandler! She's getting away, man!"

"Joe," speaks up Ross, note pad and marker in hand "Try this"

Slowly, Joey removes his hands from his friends shoulders and grabs the pad.

"We'll go stop Kathy from leaving, you stay here with Chandler." States Monica

"Yeah, we'll drag her back kicking and screaming if we have to, she won't get away from us." Smiles Pheobe proudly

Rachel chuckles nervously while playing with her hair "We won't do that, you just stay here with Chandler and we'll find Kathy."

Joey nods as his friends race out the door, each giving longing looks to the boxes occupant before leaving.

"Alright, Chandler," speaks Joey, his full attention back on the hurt man "You're gonna write on this, no ifs ands or buts."

Chandler weakly nods as the items are lowered down to him, lid clicking off the marker as he starts to write.

Dragging over a chair from the kitchen to sit in, Joey waited eagerly above.

A few seconds later the paper is turned to now face the Italian actor

**I swore not to say another word tonight **

"What?" Questions Joey "We're gonna be fine, you've done a lot of thinking in there."

Chandler shakes his head and writes once again.

**Six hours and no talking for the rest of the night is what I promised and it's what I'm going to do to prove just how much your friendship means to me. **

"But," begins Joey shakily "but, what about Kathy? She's getting away! You really like her, I know you do."

**Not as much as I like you or care about our friendship. I won't screw this up again, Joey. **

"You've already proven yourself to me!" Declares Joey, voice now higher in pitch "Chandler we're okay, alright?"

Once again the brunette shakes his head.

**I need to do this to fix it, fix us. Your friendship means a lot to me and I screwed it all up. I'm sorry, I really, really am and I'm going to take this box seriously. **

Joey shudders as memories of his earlier words rush back.

_"This means something to me, if it doesn't mean anything to you then you should just get out of there, otherwise you're just a idiot in a box." _

"... Chandler I never should have accused you of not taking this thing seriously. I-"

Chandler interrupts Joey's speech with another brush of the marker on paper.

**Don't apologize Joe, you were right. I wasn't taking this seriously. No more jokes or talking. **

"But, jokes and talking is your thing!" Squeaks Joey "You're Chandler Bing, and Chandler Bing is always saying jokes, always."

**Not this time.**

"Damn it, Chandler!" Cries Joey, fish angrily smacking into the boxes side "Don't make me come in there, cause I will!"

Chandler sighs, hand moving to write another message, but is halted by Joey tossing it out of sight.

"No, no more pen and paper for you! You're going to talk to me or so help me, Chandler-"

"Fine!" Comes the voice he'd been dying to hear "You want me to talk? Then I'll talk!"

Joey reels backwards in shock as Chandler pulls himself into a sitting position.

The two stare at one another for several seconds, neither making any move to speak.

"Well, what is it, Joe?" Asks Chandler in annoyance "First you say you don't want me to talk, then you say you do."

Joey's mouth opens, but no words come fourth, prompting the other male to continue.

"I'm doing whatever I can to make this up to you. I made a mistake and I'm trying to fix it before it's too late and I lose you!"

As much as Joey wanted to deny those words, he couldn't. When Chandler had found him hours earlier he'd been all packed and heading out the door.

"Now you've already made me break my oath," begins Chandler hands now grasping the wooden boxes lid, two fingers in the air for emphasis "twice, I may add, when this is the only thing you'd let me do to make it up to you in the first place."

"Well ... I ..." tries Joey, finger pointing threatening at Chandler "You shouldn't have kissed my girlfriend!"

"Oh my god! How many times do I have to say that I'm sorry? I tried so hard, literally doing everything I could possibly think of to stay away from her!"

Seconds of silence pass before Chandler hangs his head "Look, I'm really sorry man. You're right that I'm a terrible friend and if one of us should go, it should be me."

Joey's eyes widen, he hadn't expected the situation to go this far "I don't want you to leave, I just wanted you to feel the same hurt that I felt ... And get back at you for locking me in the entertainment unit."

"It's okay, Joe," spoke Chandler, hands clapping together "I can be packed and out by tomorrow morning. I'll even continue to pay my half of the rent till you find a new roommate."

"WHAT?!" screamed Joey in panic "I DON'T WANT A NEW ROOMMATE!"

Chandler rubs the back of his hair "Oh, ok, ok ... Ummm I guess I can pay rent for awhile, I'll have to get a second job, take a mortgage out on the duck, but you know."

At that Joey began to smile, causing Chandler to frown "What?"

"You said a joke!" Expressed the soap opera star "Chandler's back, baby!"

Chandlers blue eyes shoot open "No, no, no! That wasn't a joke, I was being completely serious, you can take a mortgage out on a ... Duck."

Joey shakes his head "Even I'm not stupid enough to fall for that one."

Chandler sighs "And there goes my word of no more jokes."

Joey approaches his friend, pulling the brunette into a tight bro-hug "Since all your vows have been broken, hows about you make a new one?"

"Whatever you want me to do, Joe" Chandler declared in puzzlement of what else the Italian would ask of him.

"Alright then, Chandler do you swear to never kiss or do anything of the sex with any of my girlfriends, again?"

Chandlers head vigorously nods "I swear Joey, I won't even give the girls the time of day. What's that? You're about to be killed if I don't tell you the time? Haha, sorry, no can do."

Joey in shock ends the moment and stares straight into blue eyes "Okay you don't have to go that far, don't let them die or something."

Chandler pulls his lips inwards "You got it."

"Good, now that that's done. There's one more thing you need to swear."

"Anything."

"Chandler Bing, you have to swear ... That you'll always be my best friend."

Chandler smiles "Well, if you insist."

Joey looks towards the apartment door "Go get her, man."

"Thanks, Joe" Chandler pulls Joey into a short hug this time before racing towards the door.

"Hey, Chandler? Merry Christmas from your secret Santa."

As the apartment door closes, Joeys eyes roam the now empty space. The Italian removes his phone from his pocket and dials Monica.

"Hey, real fast, who got Chandler in the secret Santa? I need to trade for him."

**Loved this episode! But I felt it could have been so much more and I honestly did see something like this happening. Hope you all enjoyed this fiction, leave a review and be sure to favorite :) **


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